Jane Clapp

1604 - 1668  (64 years)  Submit Photo / Document

• Name	Jane Clapp
  Born	1604	Seaton, Devon, England
  Gender	Female
  Died	2 Aug 1668	Dorchester, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts
  		Jane Clapp Will. Jane Clapp will, extracted from the book; The Clapp Memorial. Record of the Clapp Family in America published in 1876. (Notes) A jump is a short coat or woman's bodice. A whittle is a white dress for a woman. A double blanket style worn by west country English women over the shoulder like a cloak.
  Buried	Dorchester North Burying Ground, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
  Siblings	7 siblings
  1. Robert Clapp,   b. Sidbury, Devon, England ,   d. 1641, Salcombe Regis, Devonshire, England
  2. William Clapp,   b. 1600, Salcombe Regis, Devonshire, England ,   d. 6 Sep 1636, England
  3. Edward Clapp,   b. 18 Aug 1605, Salcombe Regis, Devonshire, England ,   d. 8 Nov 1664, Dorchester, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts
  4. John Clapp,   b. 1607, England ,   d. England
  5. Captain Roger Clapp,   b. 6 Apr 1609, Salcombe Regis, Devonshire, England ,   d. 2 Feb 1691, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts
  6. Anne Clapp,   b. 1610, Dorchester, Dorset, England ,   d. 1662, Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts
  7. Sarah Clapp,   b. 18 Aug 1611, Salcombe Regis, Devonshire, England ,   d. 1650, Dorchester, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I2450	Nagel
  Last Modified	1 Jan 2020

  
  

  Father	William Clapp,   b. Abt 1565, Sidbury, Devon, England ,   bur. 1 Mar 1640, Salcombe Regis, Devonshire, England  (Age ~ 75 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Johan Channon,   b. Abt 1570, Devon, England ,   bur. 5 Aug 1629, Salcombe Regis, Devonshire, England  (Age ~ 59 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Family ID	F1935	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	George Weekes,   b. Abt 1595, Salcombe Regis, Devonshire, England ,   d. 28 Dec 1650, Dorchester, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts  (Age ~ 55 years)
  Married	Abt 1625	England
  		England Salcombe Regis Church where George and Jane were likely married.
  Children	1. William Weekes,   b. Abt 1628, Seaton, Devon, England ,   d. 13 Dec 1677, Dorchester, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts  (Age ~ 49 years)  [Birth]   2. Jane Weekes,   b. 6 Apr 1634, Seaton, Devon, England ,   d. 1679, Hingham, Suffolk/Plymouth, Massachusetts  (Age 44 years)  [Birth]   3. Joseph Weekes,   c. Dec 1636, Seaton, Devon, England  [Birth]   4. Ammiel Weekes,   c. 6 Nov 1631, Seaton, Devon, England ,   d. 20 Apr 1679, Dorchester, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts  (Age ~ 47 years)  [Birth]
  Last Modified	1 Nov 2021
  Family ID	F629	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Jonas Humphrey,   b. 1587,   d. 19 Mar 1662  (Age 75 years)
  Married	1660	Massachusetts
  Family ID	F1941	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 1604 - Seaton, Devon, England Married - Abt 1625 - England Married - 1660 - Massachusetts Died - 2 Aug 1668 - Dorchester, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Buried - - Dorchester North Burying Ground, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		England "Combe" where Clapps lived just down from the church.
  		England Salcombe Regis Church where George and Jane were likely married.
  		England Woodbury Parish Church where George may have attended.
  		England Woodbury Parish Church where George may have attended.
  		England Woodbury Parish Church where George may have attended.
  		England. Seaton Church where children of George Weekes may have been Baptized.
  		Puritan Great Migration to New England.

  
  

• Notes

  Most people probably assume American women first began to organize collectively in the 20th century, however the first such political action by American women occurred in 1649. On May 2, 1649, the Massachusetts General Court passed a law forbidding either physicians or midwives from exercising any force, violence, or cruelty upon or towards the bodies of any, whether young or old. Mistress Alice Tilly, a midwife, was accused of taking action that violated this law. Six petitions and a deposition were written on behalf of Tilly, 4 from Boston and 2 from Dorchester, MA. There were 294 signatures, ranging from a low of 8 to a high of 130. Most of the signatures came from women in their childbearing years or, the mothers or mothers-in-law of such women. One of those signatures on the 2nd Dorchester petition belonged to my 11X Grandmother or perhaps her daughter (my 10X Great Aunt) also named Jane. The deposition by another midwife detailed a variety of situations that might arise during childbirth and contended that methods of handling them were common rather than unusual or cruel. The female petitioners disagreed with the male authorities assessment of Mistress Tilly. One petition called her "the ablest midwife in the land.". Another expressed confidence in her, stating they were afraid to put themselves into the hands of anyone “besides our midwife that wee have had experience of." The picture that surviving documents create is that Tilly was the preeminent Boston midwife, the one most likely to be summoned in desperate cases. The first set of 3 petitions submitted before her trial, asked that she be permitted to leave jail to attend her patients. The 4th petition was written after she had been tried and convicted, renewed the request and referring to "sad events" that had occurred because of her absence. Led by the wife of the chief pastor of the Boston church, 26 female Bostonians begged the judges to "heare the cryes of mothers, and of children yet unborn." Her husband eventually threatened to move the family elsewhere "unless her innocencie may be cleared." In spring 1650, the final 2 petitions asked the court for her freedom. Officials, asserted that there was "as much need to upphold magistracy in their authority as Mris Tilly in her midwivery." The women reminded the General Court that they wrote not just for themselves but also on behalf of "the security of your children." They were successful, the Tillys still resided in Boston fifteen years later. No doubt that the fate of Mistress Alice Tilly would have been quite different had women not gotten involved.